Adjustable tie plate and rail clamp



Sept. 24, 1929. A. J. SHURTZ ADJUSTABLE TIE PLATE AND RAIL CLAMP Filed Feb. 20, 1928 gwuvntoz Patented Sept. 24, 1929 mm) STATES ANDREW J. SHURTZ, OF DES MOINES, IOWA ADJUSTABLE TIE PLATE AND RAIL. CLAMP Application filed February 2! 1928.- Serial No. 255,668.

The principal object of this invention is to provide an adjustable tie plate and rail clamp that will rigidly hold a rail to a tie against movement in any direction, even when subj ected to heavy trailic, various temperatures and changes of the road bed.

A further object of this invention is to provide an adjustable tie plate and rail clamp that is easily and quickly installed.

A still further object is to provide a tie plate and rail clamp that is capable of successfully clamping the rail in the same, regardless of the varying and uneven width of the base portion of the rail.

A still further object is to provide an adj ustable tie plate and rail clamp of two parts that when once installed, the two portions will not become separated from their normal positions one to the other by the side rocking action of the rail when the rail is supporting a moving or standing load.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a tie plate and rail clamp that will prolong the life of both the rails and ties.

A still further obj ect of this invention is to provide a tie plate and rail clamp that prevents the side rocking of the rail when the rail is in use or the twisting of the rail when the same is not in use.

A still further object is to provide an adjustable tie plate and rail clamp that is economical in manufacture and durable in use.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig.1 is a perspective view of my device secured to a rail.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of my device in use and is taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a top plan View of the two portions of my adjustable tie plate and rail clamp in an extended position to more fully illustrate its construction.

Faster and heavier traflic on all railroads in the past few years have been so damaging to the tracks that it is apparent a better'method must be found to secure the rails to the ties.

Another force that tends to distort the rails from their normal positions is the contraction v and expansion of the rails by changing climatical conditions. Such existing conditions provoke derailment of track vehicles and great loss is suffered both inproperty and lives. It was withthese problems in mind that I designed my adjustable tie plate and rail clamp. v

y 'I have designated the ordinary rail by the numeral 10, which is designed to be permanently secured by my device to the tie 11. The base portion of my invention comprises two parts 12 and 13, which are, when placed together in the form of a tie plate, designed to rest upon the tie 11 and support the rail 10, as shown in Fig. 2. These two parts 12 and 13 are detachably and adjustably secured to each other by interlocking grooves comprising a groove 14: in the member 12 having an under-cut channel 15 communicating with the same, a tongue 16 integrally formed on' the member 13 designed to engage the groove 14, a longitudinal projection 17 or flange integrally formed on the tongue 16 designed to enter and slidably engage the channel 15, a groove 18 formed in the member 13 hav-' ing an under-cut channel 19 c0mmunicating with the same, a tongue 20 integrally formed on thejmember 12 and designed to engage the groove 18, a longitudinal projection 21 integrally formed on the tongue 20 designed to enter and slidably engage the channel 19. By this construction, when'the members 12 and 13 are supporting a rail there is no possibility of them becoming loose and bowin g in the center when the rail exerts a twisting action upon them. This feature is very important for the successful functioning of my invention. Integrally formed on the top of each member 12 and 13 is an inwardly extending longitudinal flange 22 and 23 respectively, designed to embrace and hold the base portion of the rail 10, as shown in Fig.

l and Fig. 2. It should here be noted that the grooves, channels, tongues, and projections, not only extend in an angle to the longitudinal axis of the members 12 and 13, but extend, when the two members are in normal engaged: position, from one of the extreme corners of the end of one of the members to the opposite extreme corner of the end of the other member, as shown in Fig. 3. By this arrangement, the device may easily be placed on a rail and by driving the members 12 and 13 in opposite directions, the dis- ,tance between the flanges 22 and 23 will be reduced, thereby rigidly and securely clamping the rail in the device. By this relative angle of the grooves and tongues to the longitudinal axis of the members 12 and 13, the device is not only more quickly secured to the rail, but at the ends of the device the base of the rail 10 will be resting principally upon a single piece of metal, which makes for strength and durability and is very important with the present traflic load.

Each of the members 12 and 13 has holes 24 through which the spikes 25 are designed to enter and be driven into the tie 11, thereby permanently securing my device to the rail 10 and the tie 11. The road bed may be faulty, but by the employment of my invention, the rails will remain securely fixed to the ties and therefore maintain the proper distance between the rails.

It should be noted that the members 12 and 13 extend a considerable distance outwardly on. the tie in each direction from the rail and it is very necessary to prevent the complete device and the rail from rocking on the tie. By this construction, the life of both tie and rail is prolonged by preventing the wearing of the tie by rocking action when the rail is in use and prevents the bending and Wearing of the rail by holding it in proper upright position at alltimes.

The clamping action of the flanges 22 and 23 when the device is properly secured to the rail, not only prevents the rail from lateral movement, but prevents it from longitudinal creeping action on the ties.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my improved tie plate and rail clamp without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my in vention and it is my intention to cover by my claim any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within its scope.

I claim:

In a device of the class described, two base said rail.

ANDREWV J SHURTZ. 

